Seeing a Different Side
by r.i.p. musictaco
Summary: Alice's sister, Margaret, goes out looking for her and fell down the rabbit hole, severely injuring herself and a certain knave is forced to witness the almost fatal incident. What will happen as he nurses her back to health?
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Alice failed to defeat the jabberwocky so the white queen quickly sent her home so no more harm was done. Margaret doesn't know that her sister has returned so she goes to look for her.

* * *

She went out looking for her sister. It was dark outside and she was unable to see the ground below her, then tripped. And then all she could feel was air. The next thing she knew, she felt a hand softly cleaning her forehead? What could they possibly be cleaning? When she felt the hand retreat to the water she saw a originally white towel stained red.

She pointed a trembling finger at the rag then said, "Is…that…b-blood?"

"You hit your head pretty hard. An almost fatal mistake, my lady" said a voice, who was now applying a bandage on her forehead.

"W-Where am I, sir?" she reached up and touched the man's cheek.

"Underland" the man told her and smiled at the woman next to him. She looked up and saw she was at a campsite with card soldiers? But who was this man tending to her head injury?

"Who are you? Why are there walking and talking cards?" she asked in almost a whisper.

"My name is Ilosovic Stayne, and these are soldiers for the red queen. I am her knave and I command them. Might I be able to know your name?"

"Margaret. Margaret Manchester"

"Excuse me for a moment" he stood up then told something inaudible to a soldier.

She hadn't noticed how _tall_ he was. A slight breeze was forming and his dark hair blew ever so slightly with it and she found that quite attractive. _What am I thinking? _she thought to herself._ I'm married. But then again, Lowell does this to me all the time. He should have a taste of his own medicine._

Stayne looked back at her. He saw her staring at him, capturing him in a piercing gaze. He was done talking to the soldier and went back down on his knees to Margaret's level. "You need to rest" She motioned to get up but he placed a gentle hand on her abdomen stopping her from rising any further. He placed his arms behind and under her and lifted her up, carrying her over to a tent and setting her down on a cot. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you a more comfortable stay, but these campsites were made to get the job done, not for comfort"

Since Margaret had always been in a life of luxury, sleeping there would prove difficult. Stayne walked outside and sat down thinking about the woman now in his care. _What happens when we go back to Salazen Grum? What am I supposed to do with her? Should I convince Iracabeth to let her into the court? They seem like they would get along nicely, maybe not with her temper, but I'm sure it'll work out. _It was getting late and he needed to get to sleep so he pulled out another cot and his eyelid soon drooped closed.

* * *

Margaret opened her eyes and gave a small yawn, covering her mouth to be ladylike. When she saw Stayne she gave a small gasp because he was sleeping in the same tent as her. He was woken up by the gasp, so he sat up yawned, and stretched his long arms which Margaret couldn't take her eyes off of. "Feeling better?"

"Much better than yesterday, thank you" she said smiling at his long form.

"I think your bandage could be changed"

She placed her hand on her head and nodded at feeling it. He pulled out another strip from a kit, sat on her cot, and exchanged the bandages. She blushed at the fact that he was so close. "Thank you" she sweetly told him.

"Of course" he told her before disposing of the used bandage.

"So what is the queen like?"

He hesitated, wondering if he should tell the truth or lie "Uhh… she can be sweet at times, but has a high temper and her main form of punishment is decapitation. And her court consists of mutants. They have some body part larger than the norm, such as a large nose or large ears".

"She sounds freaky" she said with a small smile across her lips.

"She is freaky" he laughed at her comment. "And we have to go back to her castle today. Do you want to go to the above world today or stay here?"

She thought about it for a moment. If she stayed she didn't have to deal with Lowell and had the opportunity to stay with this handsome man. "I think I might want to stay"

"Alright then, I can try to convince her to have you as part of her court, but its going to be hard because you don't have an enlarged body part". She brushed off his comment wondering how the day would transpire. He offered his hand which she took without hesitation, leading her to his horse and helped her onto it. Seeing her secure, he jumped behind her, wrapping his hands across her waist to grab the reigns, which she couldnt help but smile at how close he was to her. "To Salazen Grum" he told the cards then flicked the reigns which the horse in turn took them on a steady gallop to the red queen's castle.


	2. Chapter 2

"Is this her castle?" she eyed the castle with curiosity.

"Yes, it is" Stayne laughed a little, noticing her gaze.

"She has good taste" she told him and he couldn't believe what he just heard. _This will go smoothly he thought. He dismounted his horse then took Margaret's hand to help her off his horse. He offered his arm and she took it following him through the mass of doors and hallways before entering the massive throne room. _

"Your majesty, I brought you someone" he said releasing his arm from her grip then lightly pressing his lips to the queen's hand.

"Who is this?" the queen asked.

"This is Margaret" once he had finished talking she gave a small curtsy.

"Hello" she said. She was quite nervous, but why shouldn't she be? She was in the presence of the bloody-big-head. Iracabeth, apparently, wanted to inspect Margaret so she had everyone leave the throne room except Stayne.

"Stayne, why is she here?" she asked, quite curious

"I feel she would fit in quite nicely, your majesty" He told her, hoping this would be all over soon.

You know, your majesty, red is just the perfect color for you and I wouldn't have chosen any other color scheme for you" she said hoping to appeal to the queen. She smiled then told Stayne to take Margaret to her room. Apparently sucking up to her was all you needed to be a member of her court. Once out of the throne room she let out a sigh of relief.

"Do you need anything? You've been in those clothes for a while now, would you like some new ones made?" when he asked that she looked at the dress she was wearing then ran a hand through her hair and nodded.

"I do think I could freshen up" Stayne led her to a large washroom and told some tailors things Margaret couldn't hear. They then took measurements of her and pulled fabrics with assorted designs. She walked in the warm water and ducked her head under the water feeling relief as it hit her skin. She found a black dress with a wide neck and ruffled skirt going down to the knees with a plaid-like design on the skirt. She at first found the dress a bit suggestive but soon saw other ladies in short dresses, so she put the dress on and liked the way it fitted on her.

She walked around the castle, a bit new to the people, but she soon fit in because she was the type who was into the gossip and socializing. Stayne was quite surprised at how fast she was mingling with the other people of the queen's court. "How's your wound?"

"I think it's all healed" she smiled then quickly put her arm behind her back causing Stayne to raise a brow in question.

"What's in your hand?" she was unmoving when he walked to her backside and she quickly turned around to face him again. "What are you hiding, please tell me?"

"Nothing" she laughed at him as if this were a game. He gripped her shoulders but still couldn't see her hand. He moved his hands down to her waist and pinched her softly, not knowing she was extremely ticklish, and she flailed her hands about exposing the hand she had tried so hard to hide.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You know that white fluffy creature with large teeth and claws?"

"The bandersnatch?"

"Yeah… that thing. I opened its den to see what was inside and it scratched me" she confessed like a child caught with their hand in he cookie jar.

"You are really clumsy, aren't you?" he laughed but was slightly irritated at the fact that she injured herself again. Not waiting for an answer he pulled her along to the hospital. A nurse bound her hand and told her it would heal quickly.

She made her way to the kitchen and had tea with Stayne not letting her out of his sight. "I like you". She inched forward and almost closed the space between the two.

"I don't think its pretty safe to say that here" he said, making sure no one saw or heard them.

"Why?" she sadly moaned as she twirled his hair in her finger.

"I don't know how to explain" just thinking of the red queen and her advances toward him were making him nauseated. She walked out of the kitchen and he thought their friendship would be over.

How wrong he was.


	3. Chapter 3

"Anissa, why doesn't Stayne have a wife?" Margaret asked one of the ladies of the court.

"The queen wont let him" she quickly told her.

"Wont let him?"

"She is obsessed with him and wants him to herself"

"Does Stayne like it?" she asked again, trying to look just like a curious person, not someone who liked him.

"He pretends he likes it, as you've probably seen, but he just does that so he doesn't lose his head" Anissa kept telling Margaret of the queen's deep liking for her knave. "The truth is, he told me yesterday, that he likes you but is too afraid of the queen to make any advances toward you".

"Thank you" she told Anissa as she ran out of the gardens to find Stayne. All the courtiers had known of Margaret trying to make advances toward Stayne and decided not to tell the queen. If she found out, then she finds out on her own. She ran in the halls to make sure no one was around then kept on in search of him. She caught sight of him, crashed her lips on his, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He tried to resist at first, but slowly gave in and put his arms around her, kissing her back.

"Margaret, what are you d-" he was soon silenced by her kissing him again. She couldn't believe she was following her husband's footsteps and going behind his back. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling the lovely scent, "I don't know what to say".

"Call me Maggie, if you want" she still had her arms wrapped around his neck.

He had gone into shock and had to get this girl off of him, even if she did look like a blonde goddess in the black dress. "It's getting late, and I am getting extremely tired. I am going to head off to bed. You know where your room is, right?"

"Yes I do" she said finally releasing her grip on the knave.

"If you need anything, I'll be two rooms down on the left" he told her then left for his bed chamber. She did the same and tried to fall asleep but couldn't.

_What was Lowell doing right now? Probably being the man-whore he is. Should she try to divorce him? Hell yeah. How is she gonna fall asleep with that knave on her mind? She has no idea._

It had only been two hours and she found herself walking toward Stayne's room and knocking softly on the door. Perhaps he hadn't heard her, so she knocked a little more firmly.

"Yes?" he asked groggily, not even bothering to put on a robe to cover his shirtless body. Normally Margaret would have scolded someone for such indecency but she found herself just staring at his toned chest. He laughed at her reaction and she blushed for embarrassing herself like that. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, can we talk?" she said keeping her gaze on her feet.

"Sure" he placed a hand on her back and gently pushed her inside the room closing the door.

"I just need someone to tell my troubles to" she said, now looking at the moon which shone directly into his room.

"What's troubling you?" he placed a hand on her shoulder.

She sat on the bed and told him about Lowell and his unfaithfulness toward her and now how she was being unfaithful to him. He provided little advice because he was just baffled by the situation. But he sat behind her and massaged her shoulders and her eyelids drooped halfway closed, trying her hardest to not fall asleep but he was making it so hard. She soon collapsed on his chest. He laughed and thought about whether he should put her back in her room or keep her in his. Since he didn't know her too long he decided to carry her back to her room.

"Why did I do that?" he joked to himself. He stared at the moon and knew, she will be his.


	4. Chapter 4

She heard a soft knock on her door, put on a robe, and went to see who it could possibly be. It was one of the queen's courtiers. "The queen wishes to see you"

"Right now?" she rubbed her eyes, still half asleep.

"Well, you should get ready, of course, then go to the room with the crazy hat man" she told her then left. Margaret tried to get herself ready as quick as she could then hurried to room where the lady had told her to see what the queen had planned.

"Margaret, I could use your help. These idiots are useless" the queen motioned to the other courtiers, then sat down on a chair, and a hatter with messy orange hair started presenting some hats. "Which one do you like best?" She motioned toward a maroon fedora-like hat with ribbon across the top. The hatter placed her choice on the queen's head and her reaction was immediately eminent. "Oh, you have a wonderful taste in hats, dear. You can go" she said waving a hand to her courtiers.

"That hatter really has a talent" she muttered to herself then walked to the kitchen for breakfast, which she skipped not to keep the queen waiting too long. Most of the other courtiers went to the kitchen as well. She assumed they had missed breakfast too.

"She's gonna want to play croquet and she has all of us watch. It's _so _boring" she said then bit into a tart.

"Oh. When does she usually like to play?"

"Usually in the afternoon but now she likes to play two games. One in the mid-morning and the other in the afternoon" she said with a bored look on her face, loathing the croquet games.

"I think its time we head out there" said a male courtier with an enlarged forehead.

Anissa let out a sigh then took Margaret's hand, "Lets go". The game looked so different; instead of the actual props, she used a flamingo as a mallet and a porcupine as a ball. The queen took a swing and she could hear the flamingo say something. Once the flamingo hit the porcupine, all the courtiers knew to clap whether the shot was good or not. After several more hits and many more applauds, most fake, the courtiers were allowed to leave.

"Most boring thing I think I'll ever see" she said after watching the queen play croquet for the first time. "Does she have a library?"

"Yes, you see those doors" she said pointing to a set of dome-shaped double doors.

"Oh, those, thank you" she said then walking into the massive room which had some lounge chairs and many bookshelves with hundreds, maybe thousands, of books. She quickly found a book that raised interest, sat down on one of the red chairs and tried to read the book. "It is really hot in here. Is there a window in this place?" she asked herself looking around the room for a window, but to her dismay, no window.

"Sorry book, I will have to finish you tomorrow. I can't spend another minute in here" she put the book back on the shelf and walked out of the library to the garden, curious about the plants growing here. Luckily those annoying, talking flowers didn't grow here. To her surprise, she found plants like the ones in the above world. There were lots of red roses, a few tulips, and of course, the leaves cut into the shape of the queen's head. She felt someone behind her and quickly turned around. "Ilosovic, what are you doing here? Don't you have to be with the queen?"

"I have some free time, a rarity here" he said, rolling his eyes.

"I know what you mean. At least you don't have to watch those croquet games" she looked around to see if the queen was around.

"You're really red" he laughed, knowing why she was so flushed.

"Oh, the library was really hot" she lied. Even he knew the library couldn't make you that red. She became even redder at the fact that he raised a brow in question with what she said.

He bent down to her level and whispered in her ear, "Don't lie to me". She felt herself swooning from his closeness. _What is going on? Why can't she remain calm in his presence? What is he doing to her? _Fearing she might faint he put his hands behind her and laughed. "Are you all right?"

"No, not at all" she smiled and stroked his cheek. "It must be the heat"

"But it's not even hot" he reminded her, absolutely confident on what was making her act that way. Her eyes grew wide at his comment.

_I think he knows by now what is wrong with me. Why am I feeling like this? I promised to myself I would never deceive Lowell and would try to fix him, but Stayne is making it so hard for me to resist._

"Maggie" he shook her gently. She fluttered her eyes open and found Stayne hovering over her.

"What happened? Did I faint?" she asked nervously looking to see where she was. He nodded with a grin on his face, trying his hardest to suppress his laughter. "What are you smiling about?"

"I don't think you fainted from the heat" he told and leaned down, resting his forehead on hers.

"Then what could have possibly been the cause?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" he knew the answer but wanted her to figure it out on her own. Her eyes grew wide at the question, and she knew completely that he knew why she was behaving this way.

"No" she gave up on hiding her feelings, and decided to embrace them instead, leaning up and kissing him softly.

_She had completely forgotten the reason she fell down that hole. To look for her sister._


	5. Chapter 5

She broke the kiss, looking into his eye, and then to his eye patch. "What happened to your eye?"

"It's not a story I like to remember" he closed his good eye and sighed. She knew this wouldn't be a pretty story.

_"BRING HIM HERE!"the queen yelled to some cards. They did as they were told and brought a man with his hands and feet tied together. "Ilosovic Stayne, why'd you do it?"_

_"I don't know what you're talking about" he told her looking away from her._

_"Don't lie to me, Stayne. I know you did it" she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him evilly. He continued to ignore her, which only angered her more. "I don't have time for this. Get on with it" one card gripped his shoulders pushing him down on his knees while another stood in front of his face, and jabbed the knife through his left eye._

"Ilosovic!" Margaret was shaking him roughly by the shoulders. He looked at her with a look of sadness in his eye and she pulled him close and hugged him tight.

"I'm fine" he told her and she brushed her fingers along his eye patch.

"What did you do that made her want to stab you eye?"

"I don't remember. Knowing her, it's probably something silly" he smiled and kissed her roughly on the mouth causing her to moan. She couldn't believe she was kissing another man.

"STAYNE!" called the glass shattering voice of the red queen.

"Coming, majesty" he said, helping Margaret to her feet.

"Have fun" she sarcastically said; he smiled and rolled his eye at the comment.

"There you are" her face lit up when her precious knave walked into the room. "I don't understand why everyone loves my sister, and her tiny head.

"I haven't the faintest idea. You are much superior" he had no idea what he was saying, but anything for her to shut up.

"Oh well, I don't need them. I have you" she walked up to him and gave him a bear hug. He was happy she had stopped complaining, but wished she would let him out of her grip. After releasing him she started to complain again. "But what if my sister brings Alice or someone else back to defeat my Jabberwocky.

"They will surely lose. Remember when she lost the first time. The next time will be no different" he actually told that from his mind, not just making it up. He really truly hated Alice, but was unknowingly in love with her sister.

"You seem so confident. Are you sure?" she quietly asked him.

"Would I lie to you?" he gave her a fake, but convincing smile.

"I suppose not" she said looking up into his eye.

"Then what are you worried about?"

"I don't know" she walked away, probably going to get some caviar or scream at someone else, he thought.

* * *

Margaret sat in the library, able to finish the book she started because the library was cooler than last time. She was in the library for what seemed only for minutes, but what let her know she had been in there for a while was the fact that she had read two books about 700 pages each. She walked out and the sun was no longer shining. "It's quite empty. How late was I in there?"

She walked into the kitchen to see if people were eating dinner, but it was empty. Next, she opened a few bedrooms slightly to see if people were asleep and they were. "Oh my, I must have been in there for a while". she walked into a room and found Stayne sleeping on the bed. "Ilosovic, what are you doing here?" Margaret shook him gently to find out why he was in there.

"You're in my room" he told her and she looked out the window and saw the moon, which never had been visible in her room.

"Oh, my mistake" she blushed and slowly walked out of the room, to be stopped by a hand gripping her wrist.

"But I don't quite think you came into here on accident" her eyes grew wide at the comment, but before she could protest she was silenced by a tender kiss. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" she told him and her knees felt like jelly.

* * *

i know the chapter is short, but i wanted to get something written. the next chapter should be here really soon


	6. Chapter 6

Stayne and Margaret walked down the hallway and into a large room, similar like those back in London. "Is there going to be a ball soon?" Margaret asked him.

"Unfortunately" Anissa cut in. "The red queen's birthday. It has to be the most spectacular thing ever"

"Anissa, you look a mess. I can take it from here" As Anissa and Stayne talked, Maggie noticed something between the two. They had a striking resemblance toward one another.

"You look a lot alike" she told them.

"Well, Margaret. We are brother and sister" he placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Sister!" she placed her hands on her face remembering why she had jumped down that hole.

"What? What's wrong?" the knave asked her.

"I remember why I went down that hole. To look for my sister Alice" It didn't take Stayne long to figure out that the Alice she mentioned was the Alice who didn't slay the Jabberwocky.

"Maggie" he gripped her shoulders tightly and told her some important information "Alice isn't here. She's in the above world"

"What? She's home?"

"Yes. But do you want to go home?"

"Just for a little while, I need to sort things out. I'll be back before you know it" Stayne led her to the Jabberwocky's den and gave it a slight abrasion, causing some of its purple blood to drip which he collected in a vile and handed to Margaret.

"Drink this and you'll be home" She drank the vile, caressed his face in her hands, and kissed him. He held her as long as he could until there was no one to hold. She climbed out of the rabbit hole and the sun was beginning to set in London.

"Margaret!" she heard a voice say her name.

"Hello, Lowell" she replied, not happy to see him.

"Where have you been?" be pulled her into a odd hug which she reluctantly returned the gesture.

"I honestly don't know" she lied. He led her out of the Ascot's garden and announced that she was alright to the crowd. They gave him some praise for finding her.

"Margaret, where have you been?" Alice asked calmly. Her sister pulled her away from the others and told her. "You know that place you went to, Underland?"

"Yes"

"That's where I was. And I met someone and am going to try to divorce Lowell" Alice was excited to hear she could have a better brother-in-law than Lowell until she found out who.

"What's his name?"

"Ilosovic Stayne" Alice's smile disappeared which made Margaret worried. "what's wrong?"

"Him? Why? How?" she was absolutely frantic.

"What?"

"He's a bit off. He seems weird" Alice lied. She didn't want her sister to know how horrible he was.

"Oh, really. He seemed pretty normal to me" all Alice could do was nod.

"But you know very well that divorces are hard for women to get without their husband's agreement"

"I know" Margaret walked away from her sister to find Lowell. "Lowell"

"Yes" he turned his head to see who called his name.

She tried to remain calm, "Are you having an affair? Be honest"

He sighed then answered, "Yeah, I am. Why?"

"Do you want a divorce? I can't handle you and all your lies"

He looked up to the almost dark sky and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I kinda do. I'll file for one, alright?"

"Okay" she was so excited that she would be out of that liar's life and he wouldn't get her money. This would be the last night that she would sleep with Lowell. Her dreams were centered around Stayne and when she could go back.

* * *

"Goodbye, Margaret" he extended his hand out to her.

"Goodbye, Lowell" she took his hand and they shared a brief handshake. Lowell left the house soon afterward, _probably to go find his mistress_, Margaret thought to herself. She had to get back to Underland but the only entrance was in the Ascot's garden. A soft knock on their front door was heard and a servant answered it.

"Are you alright miss?" the servant asked.

"No, my husband divorced me and I have no idea why" she fake sobbed, but the servant believed her and let her in. Lady Ascot saw her and embraced her.

"What is wrong?"

"Lowell. He divorced me for some reason and I haven't the faintest idea why" Margaret told her.

"Caroline, make some tea please" Lady Ascot ordered and tea was soon before them. "Here, this should calm you, poor girl.

"Thank you" she whispered and drank the tea.

"Would you like to walk through the gardens?"

"Okay"

"Would you like me to join you?"

Margaret shook her head, "I would prefer to walk alone so I can ponder my thoughts"

Lady Ascot nodded at her, "Okay, I'll be in here". Margaret walked into the gardens and laughed at herself for her act. She quickened her pace to find the rabbit hole and soon found it.

"Okay, you can do this _without _injuring yourself. Just don't land on your head. Land on your stomach" she told herself then jumped into the hole.

* * *

She inhaled the scent of the red roses, smiled, and was soon greeted by a kiss on the cheek. She turned around and found Stayne smiling at her.

"Your back" he looked on all sides of her, "and uninjured" she laughed at the comment and looked away. He leaned down and placed a passionate kiss on the mouth which she slowly deepened. He broke the kiss and told her, "I hope you don't plan on leaving"

"I don't" she replied.

He brushed his lips past her neck and whispered near her ear, "Good".

* * *

**Random Note: **for now its going to be complete unless i get reviews saying i should continue the story.


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